Running Head: IMC Plan Draft Running head: IMC PLAN DRAFT 1 Not quite APA format. Go to http: owl.english.purdue.edu The TOPIC should be in all upper case. On the far right side, we simply have the page number, e.g. 1 (flush with right margin). For Page 2 and beyond, only the TOPIC in UPPER CASE and the Page Number, e.g., 2 (flush with right margin) is all that is necessary Please note the example I provided and utilize this for future Page 1 running headers. Week 4: IMC Plan Draft Thalia N. Douglas, D40001820 Mktg-522-11724 Professor: Robert Schaumann 1/29/2017 IMC Plan Draft 2 Table of Contents A. Introduction................................................................................................................... 3 B. IMC Communication and Market Objectives ................................................................... 4 I. Marketing objective ..............................................................................................................4 II. Communication objective .....................................................................................................4 C. D. Market Analysis ............................................................................................................. 6 a) SWOT ....................................................................................................................................6 b) Segmentation and Targeting ..................................................................................................6 c) Positioning.............................................................................................................................7 d) Product/service .....................................................................................................................7 e) Marketing Channels ...............................................................................................................7 Communication Strategy Plans ....................................................................................... 7 IMC Plan Draft 3 E. Communication Schedule ............................................................................................... 8 F. Budget and Evaluation ................................................................................................... 9 G. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 9 References .......................................................................................................................... 10 A. Introduction The product on which my Integrated Marketing Communication Campaign Plan (IMC Plan) is focused is a digital cable television that is commonly referred to as an Optimum TV. The digital cable television, Cablevision network, is provided by Altice USA. Cablevision is a subsidiary of Altice USA, servicing New York City and several other states. In 2001, Engineer Patrick acquired the digital cable television from the Dolan family. Remember that IMC Plans are written in THIRD Person – not FIRST Person. You want to avoid using words such as me, my, I, us, we, our… NEW PARAGRAPH Optimum TV is important because it provides high-speed internet, WIFI, digital cable television and many more products that are very beneficial to the business and the residential community. The cost of cables in the present market is expensive, making IMC Plan Draft 4 many customers resort to online streaming. Cable customers are responsible for the payment of the equipment as well as the cable service that includes customer service. Today, cablevision network provides a platform where customers can get access to many services without buying cables and paying for other services. The online streaming platforms include Amazon Firestick, Apple Tv, Roku and play stores or Google play. The popularity of the digital cable television resulted from the lloss of about "345,000 video subscribers in 2015" by cable companies and there is still a continuous loss (Meola, 2016). The approximate cost of streaming using online platforms is approximately $9.99 no more than $10??? While the customers who are watching using old cable television can only access about twenty local channels, hence, making the product to be more competitive than other similar products in the market. B. IMC Communication and Market Objectives I. Marketing objective To offer cheap products that affordable to many people. This is an intention – it is not a measurable goal. It lacks parameters. The pricing of digital cable television is a bit cheaper than such brands like DIRECTV and Verizon FIOS. Some prices from other providers such as DIRECTV and FIOS can range from $70 to $140 per month not including tax whereas the most Optimum TV will cost approximately $110 (not including tax). II. Communication objective To acquire more customers. This is an intention – it lacks parameters I cannot measure it. As much as there is decrease in the number of customers using cable televisions, the cablevision network keeps on getting more customers. For instance, according to Meola, about 340, 000 subscribers of cable companies defected to digital cable televisions in 2015. Optimum TV IMC Plan Draft 5 believes in international communication; it caters for a specific geographical area, and it includes approximately 20 international channels. Also, it offers News12 for the Tristate area with news content 24/7. Optimum TV does not subject their consumers to a cancellation fee since there is no abiding contract, unlike other providers they will charge the consumers. Thalia, something tells me you never downloaded the two critical documents in DOC SHARING. You do not have an IMC communications objective. There are no percentages to suggest a measurement of what you hope to accomplish with your IMC Plan from a communications standpoint. Your measurable desired IMC communications objective is an increase in the percentage of your target audience that recalls the IMC message that your IMC Plan is designed to communicate… and by a specific date. What is your IMC message (e.g., a slogan or short message)? What percentage of your target audience NOW recalls your slogan/message and to what number do you want to increase that percentage by the time that your IMC Plan has been successfully executed and implemented? Thus, you want your IMC Plan to provide you a measurable outcome in terms of a percentage increase in the number of people within your target market that recall/recognize your message and can associate it with your brand. Do we see this above? Thus, you are creating an IMC plan and with no measurable statement as to what it is intended to accomplish. We are a ship without a rudder. IMC Plan Draft 6 C. Market Analysis a) SWOT Strength-The pricing of the digital cable televisions is relatively cheaper than other brands like Version FIOS and DIRECTV in the market that remains expensive to many customers today. Weakness- Cablevision network faces challenges in converting the customers who had been used to work with the old cable companies to utilize the digital cable televisions. Opportunities-the digital cable television has more opportunities of airing more than twenty international channels that operates 24/7 without free cancellation since there is no abiding contract like in the case of other providers. Threats- the competitors may decide to lower their prices by producing cables that are cheaply affordable for many customers. You want to have 3-5 bullets for each SWOT element. b) Segmentation and Targeting Teenagers are more intrigued with outside interests and more high tech ways of engaging. Researchers found that "African Americans watch an average of 218 hours of television a month, Caucasian 155.3 hours, Hispanics 123.2 hours, and Asian Americans 92.3 hours a month." (Hinckley, 2014). Therefore, the most targeted audience is African-American consumers who are more prone to watch cable television more than five hours a day. If you are seeking to reach African-Americans, how would you describe this target market in terms of gender, age, education, income level, and geography? IMC Plan Draft 7 c) Positioning The key term that should pop up in the customer’s mind when the see my product is ‘Digital.’ Things that are digital are easier to use and mostly they are not costly. Therefore, the brand name of the product would attract many customers since they would believe that the product may help them move from analog platform to digital. d) Product/service Optimum TV is a digital cable television (Cablevision network) provided by Altice USA. It provides digital cable television, high-speed Internet, WIFI and many more products to the residential and business community. Where? e) Marketing Channels The product would be marketed using online streaming platforms such as Amazon Firestick, Apple Tv, Roku and play stores or Google play. Since the business involved comprise airing of different channels online, the company would use the online interface to market the cablevision network products. Channels of distribution or marketing channels refer to how you get your product or service to your customer. In this case, you’re a direct channel service provider. D. Communication Strategy Plans The strategic communication plans for the product include the use of traditional media, internet and public relations. Traditional media- since the traditional media such as the cable products are older than the digital cable products in the market, they would be paid to help in advertising the newly IMC Plan Draft 8 introduced products (Batra & Keller, 2016). Other media like newspapers, radios, and billboards can also be used to pass information about optimum TV. Internet- it enables quick online advertisement because many people access internet within a short period of time. The cost of advertisement on internet is also relatively cheaper than using others means. Public Relations-it can be used as a communication function for promoting sales of the products in the market. The optimum TV Company can choose to sponsor some events like sports and athletics to gain more popularity in the market. E. Communication Schedule Section E and section F are not part of this. They go into the FINAL IMC Plan in Week SEVEN. The table below shows a communication schedule for optimum TV communication strategy mix. Communication Schedule Launch Dates Key Events Traditional Media 12/2/2017 Adverts on Radios, Televisions and Newspapers Internet 01/2/2017 Creating ads on Facebook, creating YouTube documentaries and posting on other google sites. Public Relations 14/2/2017 Paying for billboards and pinning the advertisements. IMC Plan Draft 9 F. Budget and Evaluation The Table below shows the budget and evaluation of communication strategy mix for one full month of Optimum TV marketing. Schedule 1st week Traditional $196 2rd week 3rd week 4th week $392 $588 $784 Media Internet $112.5 $225 $337.5 $450 Public $171 $342 $513 $684 Relation G. Conclusion The IMC is an essential part of marketing to help promote the product. Integrated Marketing Communication is an assimilation of all techniques of branding. There are various components of IMC such as the foundation, corporate culture, brand focus, and consumer experience. Also, there are three tools integrated into the brand promotion to relate to the targeted customers such as communication tools, promotional tools, and integration tools. IMC enables all aspects of the marketing mix in sequence to promote the product/service. It is necessary for the use of integrated marketing communications because it lowers the marketing cost. Also, IMC gives consumers clarification of what to expect as well as improving the marketing effectiveness and awareness. The IMC plan has objectives of acquiring more customers by offering cheap services. It would make the optimum TV Company to grow rapidly IMC Plan Draft 10 in the market as compared to its competitors that make customers to spend a lot in buying cables that are sold expensively. References Batra, R., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Integrating Marketing Communications: New Findings, New Lessons, and New Ideas. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 122-145. Hinckley, D. (2014). Average American watches 5 hours of TV per day, report shows . Retrieved from New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/average-americanwatches-5-hours-tv-day-article-1.1711954 IMC Plan Draft 11 Meola, A. (2016 ). Traditional pay-TV loses even more ground to cord cutters . Retrieved from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/cable-tv-curbs-subscriber-losses-butcord-cutters-continue-to-grow-2016-3 Remember that this is a DRAFT and not the full-blown Week SEVEN IMC Plan that you are submitting. I was seeking short bullets (one to two lines each) or short essays that provided me the flavor/gist of the direction in which each of your areas is going. Your IMC Plan DRAFT need only run between 4-5 pages. Thus, what is above should be the high-level crux of your IMC Plan that helps me to understand where you are with your overall IMC Plan FINAL Draft (Week SEVEN) and how you are approaching each of these more than one dozen areas. There are four critical areas at the bottom of your outline (Section A – Introduction, Section B – IMC Objectives, Section C – Market Analysis, and Section D – Communications Strategy Plans). I have offered comments in several areas of your IMC Plan OUTLINE. Where noted, you are encouraged to revisit some areas to flesh out additional details that will help your FINAL DRAFT of your IMC Plan sparkle. Work on those areas referenced in my comments above and I will look forward to your IMC Plan in Week SEVEN. Remember, too, that your PowerPoint (PPT) presentation in Week EIGHT is a ‘picture’ presentation of the above, complemented by your comments in the NOTES section underneath each PPT slide. Those NOTES are from what you will “talk to” as you talk to each PPT slide. A document in DOC SHARING that is entitled MKTG522 Examples of Good and Poor PPT Slides will help you to format your PPT Presentation for Week EIGHT. I am seeing some writing errors that should not be there – please download and study the MKTG522 Writing Tips for Success found in DOC SHARING. Questions? Email me or call me.  bob Week 4 Rubric: Project Draft POINTS Draft Good Quality Content Points 25 22 % 25 Description Use of high-quality reference sources and content (Demonstration of resources, APA format for citations) Ideas expressed clearly; graduate- level writing Clarity 25 22 25 (Graduate-level writing with good sentence structure, grammar, writing, punctuation, and spelling) IMC Plan Draft Draft 12 Points % Description Mapped out all sections of the plan in outline form Includes all Sections 25 18 25 (You have clearly stated content that reflects that which was requested of you per the outline guidelines provided you from DOC SHARING.) Ideas and data are relevant and reported accurately Relevance and Accuracy 25 15 Total 77 25 100 (Your IMC Plan OUTLINE makes sense for what you plan to do insofar as a promotional approach towards accomplishing your communications objectives.) As you do not have a defined IMC communications objective nor do you have defined marketing objectives, you are developing a plan with no known outcome. A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. Course Project: Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan Let’s Begin… Please read and study this document. This is your “bible” that contains everything that you want to know to create your successful IMC Plan that is due in Week SEVEN. When one looks at Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), one should see more than “advertising.” An IMC approach is where the marketer truly recognizes the importance of creating that “one, clear, consistent” message that most effectively delivers the vital message that communicates to the target market. To do this, the marketer uses a variety of tools – traditional advertising (TV, radio, magazine, newspapers, and billboard) and non-traditional advertising (Internet, social media). Complementing the traditional/non-traditional advertising are other promotional tools. When one looks at the PROMOTION “P” (also called the COMMUNICATION “C”), there are several components from which the marketer selects to communicate their message. Along with advertising, the marketer also blends – as appropriate – the elements of public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, and personal selling. Each of these promotional tools helps to communicate and reinforce that IMC message. Key to a great IMC Plan is the creation of your IMC MESSAGE and your IMC communications objective, as well as your marketing objectives. What will lovin’ it.” What will your IMC be your IMC MESSAGE? You will want to put it in “quotations.” McDonald’s has “I’m Nike’s has “Just Do it.” Maxwell House Coffee has “Good to the Last Drop.” be your IMC MESSAGE? Create your own slogan that helps you to best accomplish communications objective. As a marketer, you want to measure the increased percentage of recall of your IMC message by a certain date after your IMC Plan has been completely executed. Remember this sentence – it is key to the success of your IMC Plan that you will develop and submit in Week SEVEN. Thus, you need an IMC message. It should be short and punchy… and create ‘rememberability’ in the mind of target market. Some even call it “positioning,” a situation in which the BRAND means ‘something’ in the consumer’s mind in terms of certain WORDS. Many of the slogans that you see advertised are, in fact, the IMC message of that company. Below, this instructor ‘walks you through’ key content information that will help you craft that effective IMC message and IMC communications and marketing objectives, and an IMC Plan that supports a marketing BRAND initiative. IMPORTANT: You are NOT creating a Marketing Plan – rather, you are focused on what would be a sub-set of that Marketing Plan, i.e., the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan. This is the part of the Marketing Plan that promotes the product/ service/company. OBJECTIVES of your IMC Plan Course Project The first task is to determine a product or service for which your IMC Plan will be created. At the end of Week ONE, you will have submitted via the Dropbox your first assignment, using the template found in DOC SHARING. Here you will let your instructor know what you have chosen for your graduate-level project. Your instructor will reply back within 48 hours – if not sooner – to let each class member know of his support for their topic or, in a few cases, a suggestion to revisit their topic and to choose an alternative. Once that support has been provided by your instructor, you are ready to begin the serious work of developing your Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan. Key Things to Consider… It is important to your instructor that you not look at your IMC Plan course project as ‘busy work.’ For this reason, select a product or a service about which you have passion and interest. Because you will be living and sleeping with this IMC Plan for the next several weeks, your instructor wants this to be a positive learning experience for you. The first step is to select a product or service. It could be a product or service that you would like to bring to market. Yes, become an entrepreneur! It might be an IMC Plan for a local retail store in your town that needs a promotional boost. You may be aware of a retail store that you personally like, but it is your feeling that no one really knows the brand or the value that this local retailer offers – how might your IMC Plan help this retail store? I do not encourage your taking an existing brand, e.g., Apple iPod, and doing an IMC Plan for this product. Apple already has such an IMC Plan and the time required to create one – were you to attempt this – would take you well beyond this course, time-wise. The instructor recommends that you do NOT take on a nationally-focused IMC Plan. Instead, focus on a specific metropolitan area of your choosing, e.g., Atlanta. The thinking is this – your IMC Plan for Atlanta would be transportable to other metropolitan areas (with some tweaks, of course). You select the metropolitan area, e.g., Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, etc. This IMC Plan is YOUR plan -- demonstrate that of which you are made. Run with something “from scratch.” No daycare centers or cupcake sideline businesses, however. This should be a graduate-level IMC Plan project. Use the brand analysis document to gain an understanding of your selected brand. Work on gathering data, and map out your ideas for the Week 4 deliverable, the Course Project DRAFT. The outline should help you determine what you know and where gaps still exist. This document will guide you through to successful completion. The Week ONE LECTURE is your friend here. Read it carefully and ensure you are comprehending what is shared (and not just ‘reading it’ because you have to do so). Your Deliverables Your IMC Plan Course Project topic selection is due at the end of Week ONE. Your Course Project DRAFT for your IMC Plan is due at the end of Week FOUR. Your final report, i.e., the FINAL Draft of your IMC Plan, is due at the end of Week SEVEN. It should be about 10–15 pages. Please use the APA format for your paper and references. Keep in mind that you should use a professional writing style. This should be based on business English, and involve the correct use of marketing terminology. Use tables to summarize your information. Your IMC PowerPoint Presentation, including notes underneath each PPT slide, is due on Saturday (not Sunday) of Week EIGHT. This will be 10-15 PowerPoint Slides. You will not actually GIVE a presentation to your instructor that is based on your IMC Plan; rather, you will prepare the presentation as if you were going to actually present your IMC Plan to management or a financial loan officer. Pretend that you were preparing a PowerPoint presentation for a colleague to give in your place – including slides and narrative NOTES on which they might draw content to “talk to” your PPT slides’ bullets. The NOTES are a key part of your evaluation – do not skimp here. A professional PowerPoint presentation in marketing should be based on good quality content; your slides should be clear and compelling. It is important to engage your audience and convey all of the important points that you have developed in your written report. Please include the artwork that you have developed; this is what your audience will want to see. Two (2) separate documents that are available to you in DOC SHARING shares great ideas for making a professionally-appearing PowerPoint set of slides. Your evaluation, in part, will reflect how effectively you have embraced this learning tool via your PPT slides A report is more likely to be implemented effectively if it is brief, but sufficiently detailed, clear, and relevant. Remember to experiment with the demand metric tools that are included in the Week 6 Lecture; these may give you some ideas for organizing your campaign. For each of your communications strategy plans, you should identify a specific objective, a media strategy, a media plan, and a budget. Research will involve contacting media to learn the actual cost to utilize the media that you have selected, e.g., Parents magazine, Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, WGCL-FM radio, WSB television, Facebook, etc. You may find a media kit is sometimes available to you on the web. Do not wait until the last minute to research this. You may get burned if you do as you may find the media may not be able to respond back to you in a timely manner. Start your research on your media budget at least three weeks before your IMC Plan is due. You are asked to provide the five typical elements that form the communications strategy mix - advertising, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing, and sales promotion. Marketers must think about how they need to match competitors’ promotional efforts or provide novelty; you may want to substitute a campaign for something different—check this out with your professor. As you look at the content for your IMC Plan, the following sections should be included. Note that a suggested number of pages has been included for your planning purposes. Executive Summary The Executive Summary is a SUMMARY of your entire IMC Plan that is presented as an Abstract of the IMC Plan. It lets the reader know what the gist of specific information that they will find on the following pages. For this reason, you can’t write it until you have completed your IMC Plan. Provide the “meat” of each key section via a short paragraph in your Executive Summary. As your IMC Plan is a "work in progress" and the Executive Summary is a synopsis of all of the sections and a general overview of key facts that follow, you would not want to insert your Executive Summary until Week SEVEN. The last time you went to the movies and just before you saw the main feature, you were likely exposed to “Coming Attractions.” Movies that would be coming to the theater shortly were featured, including the action shots, all designed to whet your appetite to want to come back and see the movie. Of course, they had to make the movie first… and then they took abstracts from the finished product to show you the “coming attractions” snippet that you saw. That’s an Executive Summary -- it’s a snippet of what the reader will see before they read the entire IMC Plan. Your Executive Summary is placed at the very front of your IMC Plan. Your Executive Summary should clearly communicate what your company does, where it is located, the product and service on which your IMC Plan is based, your rationale for selecting the product/service that you did, the measurable communications objective that your IMC Plan is intended to accomplish (don’t forget this), and other key items. In effect, it is a mini-version of your IMC Plan, and includes key factoids or information from each of the key sections on which you are being evaluated. An Executive Summary does NOT focus on generalities. Do not say, e.g., “The Target Market section will describe the target market.” The reader already knows THAT! Instead, provide the gist of what the reader will find when they arrive at your Target Market section, e.g., “The Target Market will be women, ages 25-45, married, with two or more years of college, with household income of $60K+, and living in the Atlanta area and five surrounding counties of Cobb, DeKalb, Douglass, Hall and Rockdale.” Does your Executive Summary tell the reader WHAT your IMC Plan is designed to measurably accomplish and within what window of time? IMC Plans that lack measurable goals cannot be measured for success. In effect, the reader will have absolutely no idea what your IMC Plan is intended to measurably accomplish as you begin to take the reader to a destination to which the reader is clueless. Thus, you want to list your IMC objectives, both communication objectives and marketing objectives. Your Executive Summary should be no more than two pages, double-spaced. Introduction This is where you provide your approach to the entire IMC Plan. Tell the reader how you decided to select the product/service that you did. This can be written in one-half page. IMC Objectives There are two kinds of objectives you want to include in your IMC Plan: marketing objectives and communications objectives. A communications objective allows the marketer to set a percentage goal by which - at the end of the IMC campaign - a pre-determined percentage of the target market will NOW be able to recall, recognize, and/or remember the message. What is the message? That’s for you to determine. What’s the percentage goal? You determine this. Communications objectives are measurable goals and focus specifically on communicating a message and how effectively this communication occurs. In effect, we have a MESSAGE and we want to measure the new percentage of the target market that recalls that message as a result of our IMC Plan’s successful implementation. An example of an IMC communications objective might be: Increase from 26% to 49% the percentage of our target market of women, women, ages 25-45, married, with two or more years of college, with household income of $60K+, and living in the Atlanta area and five surrounding counties of Cobb, DeKalb, Douglass, Hall and Rockdale, who recall that “Tide Liquid gets out stains best” by 31 March 2017. Recognize that if you bring a new product or new service to market, your audience awareness is essentially “0%.” Thus, your communications objective might be to “Increase from 0% to 30% the percentage of our target market [description] that recalls the message...” Note that we have described the target market via both demographics and geography. We have indicated a percentage of who NOW remembers the IMC message (26%) and that we WANT to have recall/remember the IMC message (49%) after the promotional campaign is over. Note, too, that we have a clearly defined date (31 March 2017) by which the IMC Plan will be completed and that marketing research can determine if we attained our 49% goal. TIP: For the purpose of your IMC Plan, you may make up your initial starting percentage and your desired percentage for who NOW recalls your IMC message after your IMC Plan has been executed. Marketing objectives are measurable goals in number and by a date that relate to measurable sales in dollars or units, an increase in market share percentage, etc.     Increase product sales from $11.5M to 13.2M by 31 March 2017 Gain 38% of the market share (vs. current 36% market share) by 30 June 2017 Sell 140,000 units of our company’s three key products by 31 December 2017 Attract 125,000 new customers by 31 March 2017 As you identify the brand on which your IMC Plan is based, you may set other principle objectives of the campaign and quantify these in terms of what you are hoping will be results of an effectively executed IMC Plan. You will want to clearly state what are communications objectives and which are marketing objectives; all should be quantifiable. You can list your marketing objectives and IMC communications objective in one-half page. Market Analysis Understanding the marketplace is paramount. If you are going to promote a product/service via your IMC Plan, you need to understand the world into which this promotional effort will be communicate. In this section, you will want to demonstrate that you understand the marketplace that currently exists for your product/service, as well as your specific target market of consumer (or business, if this is the case). These are two different terms. Let’s look at each. Marketplace In this marketplace section, you “paint the picture” so that the reader understands the current marketplace that you wish to enter or in which you wish to promote and the problem that your product/service is designed to fix or fulfill. You will need to do research to demonstrate your awareness of this marketplace. This way, when you eventually describe your product or service that you bring to the marketplace, the reader of your IMC Plan says, “Okay, I see what the problem is. What you want to promote to the marketplace makes perfect sense.” Otherwise, we have the cart before the horse! THEN briefly describe what it is that you want to promote to the market and that solves the problem that is not being currently addressed (or is being poorly addressed). Look at the marketplace into which you wish to enter. How would you describe this marketplace and what is the market potential in terms of the number of consumers or businesses for your product or service? Might you project via your research the revenue potential in this marketplace? According to your research, what is the growth potential of the marketplace and the trends that you are seeing? As a marketer, why is this marketplace attractive to you? As you look at the marketplace over the past several years:     What significant changes have been occurring? What products have been marketed and which ones are current leaders? Why have those products been successful? What problems currently exist in the marketplace and for which a solution has not yet been found (or the ones currently available lack something that had they possessed that ‘something’ would have made them ideal?) Research! Research! Research! You can describe the gist of your marketplace analysis in one page, double-spaced. Target Market If you are going to communicate a message, you need to understand your target market, and what messages to which the target market will respond. In addition, your target market needs to have a problem/concern if they are to seek a solution (what you are promoting). If the target market does not have a problem, the target market doesn’t need a solution… and they won’t need what you are promoting… which means that the target market likely will not be responsive to your IMC message, regardless of how ‘good’ it is. Think about what you just read. Do you go out and buy anything for no reason at all? Of course not. You buy because you are trying to fulfill a want, need, or desire… yet, these were caused by a PROBLEM (e.g., you need a new sweater because your old one has holes where the elbows have worn through) or the desire to avoid a PROBLEM should it arise (e.g., you want automobile insurance to protect you should your car get into an accident). Consumers and businesses have PROBLEMS – marketers offer SOLUTIONS. How would you describe your target market? You would consider a listing of demographics, geography, psychographics, and usage segmentation variables. Demographics are popular – how would you describe your target market by – as appropriate – gender, age, marital status, income, education level, and/or ethnicity (may or may not be appropriate, unless the market is one for whom the product is specifically made, e.g., hair shampoo for AfricanAmerican women whose hair tends to be more coarse and that would benefit by different ingredients not normally found in some shampoos currently on the market). If your target market is a business, how would you describe those businesses in terms of industry(ies), NAICS codes, number of employees, annual gross revenues, location, etc.? What’s the problem that your target market has? Do some informal research with your friends, colleagues at work, etc., who fall into your target market, as you have described it. What might your product/service provide your target market insofar as a solution? You can describe your Target Market in one-quarter to one-half page, double spaced. SWOT What are the Internal Strengths and Weaknesses, and External Opportunities and Threats? You will want to offer a situation analysis (i.e., a S.W.O.T. analysis). A SWOT is written in bullet form (not essay), with each bullet running one to two lines at the maximum. Any bullet over two lines is too long! Adhere to this, please! Describe the current market situation, the opportunity you plan to address, any micro and macro environmental influences, and any relevant historical data you see as important. No FICTION. Don’t make up ‘stuff.’ A SWOT is a realistic assessment of where things stand at a given moment. Thus, there is no right or wrong answer – just truthful ones. Your Kotler/Armstrong text provides some excellent insight. Please review these pages carefully so that you have the benefit of our author’s wisdom when you submit your SWOT Analyses for the product/service on which your IMC Plan is based. To help you prepare a good SWOT, it is important to break down each of the SWOT elements and the product and/or service you wish to bring to market. S.W.O.T. is an acronym for Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats. The first two (Strengths and Weaknesses) are found WITHIN the four walls of your company. The latter two items (Opportunities and Threats) are found in the macro environment in which your company operates… in effect, outside your company walls. The purpose of a SWOT Analysis is to have YOU take a hard, realistic, candid look at your company. If YOU are going to compete, it is time to take an HONEST look at what you are about to face. Although you may think, “you’ve the greatest product since sliced bread,” that rarely is the case. Putting things on paper means that you are facing the reality of “what is.” This is not an exercise in fiction writing. Here is a description/example of each SWOT component. Remember that your SWOT is written in bullet format – not essay format. STRENGTHS – This is not a list of two dozen things that you have going for you. That you have enthusiastic employees or that they are well-trained is not a STRENGTH. As you look at what comprises a STRENGTH, it is something that you clearly bring to the table. Your competition may say, “Drat! I wish we had that… could say that… could do that!” STRENGTHS consist of those things found within your company's “four walls.” It could be your management expertise within the industry… your financial backing… your manufacturing capability. Whatever it is, your STRENGTHS found within your company's four walls are what make you a formidable competitor. If you're lucky, you have a distinctive competency, i.e., something that no other company has! STRENGTHS:  Strong management experience with over 25 years in the widget industry, specifically in prototype manufacturing  Guaranteed $4.2M financial backing from bank  Strategic alliance with Chan Deng Enterprises (Beijing) to do manufacturing  Patented product technology that gives company a competitive lead in the industry  Previous success marketing two related products since 2011 WEAKNESSES – This is your “soft underbelly” at which your competition cackles with glee. It is where you are exposed. For many in our class, one weakness may be that you have no BRAND recognition – no one has ever heard of you. It could be your limited finances or that you have no line of credit with your bank. Whatever your WEAKNESSES, these are the things within your company's four walls that you need to address. You're vulnerable. If the “Weakness” that is list is something that you would be unable to control, it falls under the external macroenvironment and would be a THREAT. Some examples of possible WEAKNESSES: WEAKNESSES:  Product lacks ability to interact with Apple products  Company has no previous experience marketing this kind of product  Dependence on external company in China for manufacturing  Company has no brand recognition for this product  Company lacks a financial line of credit OPPORTUNITIES – This is where you see opportunities to grow your market, make profit, and establish a foothold. It may be where you can build upon your internal strengths to capitalize in your target market. Opportunities could be "other" target markets that you see as ripe for exploitation; it may be markets that your competition has overlooked or ignored. Tell the reader WHERE you see these opportunities. Your OPPORTUNITIES are those business niches that you see yourself exploiting. Where can you find business that you might develop today... or tomorrow? Where can you increase your revenues were you to pursue such opportunities? What opportunity exists for your company and on which it can capitalize? Your bullets should focus on these areas in which you can grow your business and/or revenues. In effect, where is the money opportunity for you? If your bullets don’t answer this, you likely do not have a good list of OPPORTUNITIES listed. OPPORTUNITIES  Expand product line to include offering of complementary services  Create product line extension into complementary product sets  Explore international licensing in Europe, specifically Italy and Germany  Partner with Amazon.com to reach their online customers. THREATS – THREATS are those things in your macroenvironment and about which you have virtually no control -- what is happening with your competition, technology, government/legal, environment, etc., that can have an unwanted effect on your business as you attempt to bring your product/service to market? You need to be aware of these… and never assume “that can’t happen to me.” It can… and they do. A WEAKNESS (discussed above) is internal to your organization – it is something about which you CAN do something, given funding, resources, etc. Don’t confuse these terms! THREATS  Recessionary economy means consumers may be unwilling to spend  Competitive marketing from ABC and DEF companies may accelerate  City zoning ordinance may not allow this kind of business on property  New technology may make the product obsolete You can write your entire SWOT in 1- 1½ pages, double-spaced. Review the above examples for each SWOT element. Demonstrate you understand what constitutes a good SWOT analysis. Positioning How do you want your company and its product “positioned” in the mind of your target market? Were we to approach individuals within that target market and mention to them your product or service and ask them, “What do you think of when you hear the brand name of XYZ?” what WORDS would you want them to say? That’s the positioning that you want for your product or service in their mind. In effect, what WORDS do you want to have come to the tongues of your target market when they hear the name of your company or your product/service? Al Ries and Jack Trout, two advertising executives, coined this phrase of “positioning” in 1981. This URL will share good “stuff.” http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/riestrout/positioning/. This section can be done in one-quarter of a page. Product/Service What needs does the product or service fulfill or what problem does it solve? What is the product/service offering? What are the features, advantages and benefits? You'll want to provide a complete description of the product or service to be offered, along with an explanation of any competitive advantages and benefits. This can be a totally new product or a line extension. Consider the “core” product or service, as well as any related services or components that are a part of the total offering. Don't assume the reader understands exactly what it is you are bringing to the marketplace. Describe your product in detail so that the reader can “picture” it: size, colors, and materials. If it is a service, describe of what your service consists so that the reader can “picture” the finished outcome or of what this service consists. Indicate what need your product or service is intended to fulfill; in effect, for a product or service to be successful, it should solve a problem for your target audience. Make it clear to the reader what problem your product or service solves for the target market… and that is not being addressed effectively (or is being addressed poorly) by other companies. How do you know that you are solving a problem? Although you are not asked to do actual in-depth marketing research to understand the thinking of your many marketers think they know what the market “needs.” Blinded by their own enthusiasm or distinctive competency or competencies, some companies rush pell-mell into their target market, DO run your concept by friends and co-workers. Gain their insight. Too often, the market, only to find that what THEY felt the target market wanted… was not that important to that market. A good litmus test: Were you to meet with a representative group of potential customers to learn about the problem(s) as they see it and how your product/service adds value, would that group tell you, “What you have described is really a problem that needs to be addressed and no one is addressing it (or addressing it to our satisfaction). We truly need a solution.”? Or would they say, “Well, your product/service is nice, but we’re pretty much okay with what is currently on the market” or “We really don’t have a problem right now”? Net-net: If your product/service does not solve a problem (or prevent one) for your target market, that target market’s “need” for your solution is likely not sufficiently strong to support your entry into the market. Why would they want a solution to a problem that they don’t have? This will make promoting the product/service offering all the more difficult Don’t assume because YOU think your product/service is the “greatest thing since sliced bread” that it will be successful. 80%~ of all new products and services introduced each year FAIL. Yes, THAT many! Many times, it is simply because the wants and needs of the target market… and the characteristics of the product/service being introduced… don’t match! You can describe your product section in less than one page, double-spaced. Marketing Channels (i.e., Channels of Distribution) A “channel of distribution” includes those people or companies that are responsible for moving the physical product through the channels of distribution and/or to connect buyer and seller. It is not a description of promotional tools or advertising There are two kinds of intermediaries (i.e., channel members). Merchant intermediaries are those who "take title to the product" as it moves through the channel from the original manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer. When you buy something at the store, your "title" is your cash register receipt. Functional intermediaries are those who do not take title; these are brokers and agents who do not "handle" the product, yet they bring buyer and seller together. PRODUCT If your company is manufacturing a PRODUCT, by its very nature it requires physical movement. If you are a DIRECT CHANNEL, you sell to your customer directly. A "Farmer's Market" is one such example. Boeing is another example, as it sells its Boeing aircraft direct to the airlines. If you sell direct via the Internet, you are a DIRECT CHANNEL (although you may also use traditional retailers, too, to sell INDIRECTLY). Using a wholesaler to bring your product closer to retail outlets that are in various geographies, you are using many different intermediaries. Each makes profit in return for the value-added functions and services they provide. If you are marketing a PRODUCT and are using channels to help move your product closer to the ultimate industrial or consumer customer, you will want to communicate specifics about your channel structure. Tell me why you have chosen that structure, and information about how you are going to work WITH your channel members to help them promote your product so that they will have success represent your product when you are not around. Describe your promotional approach (PUSH and/or PULL strategy) to support your channel to gain their mindshare and support. SERVICE A SERVICE is a different animal. Because it is not physical, you can't "move it through" a channel. YOU are the service provider. Whether you are a restaurant, a consultant, an orchestra in a major city, an Emergency Room in the city hospital, or an airline, the customer comes to you or you go to the customer. For this reason, it is unusual to have an indirect Channel of Distribution for a company that provides a service. One possibility would be if you have an agent or broker who is paid commission to bring you customers who would contract with you for your services… or a travel agency. In most cases, those who provide a SERVICE are what we call a Direct Channel SERVICE Provider. If you are providing a service, then you are more than likely a direct channel service provider and a channel of distribution will likely not be part of your marketing mix. Yet, you would want to include a description of your physical facility where your service is offered (if applicable), how you will deliver your services to your customers, and other related topics that point to the “tangibility” of how you will provide your service, how it might be provided, etc. This is different from the Product/Service Description above. There, you describe WHAT your service is. Here, you describe HOW you provide it. Those companies that provide your company products or services and that allow you, in turn, to manufacture a product or service are NOT part of your channel of distribution. Rather, you are part of THEIR channel and those companies are part of your Supply Chain. You should be able to describe your channels approach in one-half of a page; one page if you describe your PUSH/PULL promotional strategy to help your channels move your PRODUCT if they are a merchant intermediary. Double-spacing. Communications Strategy Plans The following is a tutorial to get you thinking about what promotional tools you might consider using, where to learn more about them, and how to present the important ‘stuff’ for your IMC Plan in Week SEVEN. You will want to craft an effective IMC Plan that utilizes appropriate promotional tools. Believe it not, reliance on ONLY social media to communicate your message is not a good thing. There are several promotional tools available to you, each of which can complement the other and/or reinforce the IMC message created.  Traditional Media – this includes old-time favorites such as radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and outdoor advertising (billboards). We are also seeing creative new forms of advertising, too.  Internet – this has been around for about 20 years. Advertisers have embraced advertising on the internet much more quickly than the traditional media. Search engine optimization (SEO) strategy: Google AdWords As advertising became more expensive and the Internet grew – online communications have become a cost effective option with the added benefit of being measurable (closed-loop marketing) – this area has become highly specialized: o o o  Online advertising: Banners, reciprocal links Social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram… Website Direct marketing – this includes direct mail (junk mail), email (Spam), Fax (yes, still used), and other forms of reaching you directly. This includes social media. Direct marketing is directed to you, a specific consumer, by name. It is PERSONAL. Direct marketing evolved from the catalog business, which involved gathering customer information – this approach is data base driven and is used to send personalized messages either by mail, phone, email or text messages, inviting a direct response. There is an important role for direct marketing in branding as it facilitates relationship building and customer retention. This is becoming integrated into a web campaign. Direct marketing might include: o o o o o  Post cards Personalized mailings Emails concerning special offers Newsletters Social media Sales promotion – Alongside traditional advertising, there are many options for communicating with customers and building positive associations with the brand – sales promotion is growing in popularity and can be incorporated into a direct marketing piece such as a postcard or email. Sales promotion is instant demand stimulation; it creates a perception of greater value through contests and samples, it complements the longer term advertising campaign, it motivates trial use, and encourages larger purchases or stimulates a repeat purchase. Sales promotion is helpful when launching new products, and new product samples can be attached to existing brands. Problems can arise, however, because frequent sales promotions alter price perceptions and encourage consumers to become “deal-prone.” Examples include: o o o  Consumers: Coupons, price-off, gift with purchase, contests, samples, mail sampling, newspaper sampling, on-package sampling, mobile sampling Trade/Business: Training, allowances, incentives, trade shows Internet: New opportunities for contests and trial subscriptions Public relations (PR) – used to promote positively the company, its products, the company’s performance, its people. Conversely, public relations is also used to minimize damage and bad press via ‘spin control’ when bad news occurs, e.g., poor quarterly performance, a government fine for violation of the law, etc. PR is a communications function used to promote understanding between an organization and its various stakeholder groups. PR is a critical component of brand building and generates publicity for the brand, helps solidify the public’s opinion of the brand and defines the brand in a seamless fashion. Public relations may involve: Creating publicity; buzz, viral messages Building media relations Corporate communication (issues management, community relations, government relations, industry relations) Building employee relations Maintaining financial/investor relations Crisis management Image building PR deals with what is difficult to control; but a company can be prepared PR amplifies the effects of other communications strategies o o o o o o o o o The tools of PR may include: Press releases Feature stories Company newsletters Press pack Interviews and press conferences Sponsored events o o o o o o So that your IMC Plan does not go over 15 pages (not including cover page or references), a simple format provided via your Communications Schedule (Page 15) allows you an easy format to describe what traditional advertising you will use, when, where, for what window of time, and the cost for that specific media (e.g., Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper). IMC Plan Approach for Promotional Tools Remember, too, that you are attempting to reach and communicate a MESSAGE to your TARGET MARKET. Thus, if your Target Market is clearly defined, your IMC promotional effort can utilize media that clearly reaches your identified Target Market. Each media has what is called a Media Kit. Many of these are online for magazines and newspapers. TV and radio will require you to contact an Account Executive (Sales rep) at the station on which you are considering advertising to learn their advertising rates. Thus, advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and direct marketing should all be considered. Social media, too. It is NOT essential to use all six, as all components may not be applicable. Do not lean too heavily on social media, however. Despite the popularity of Facebook, tweeting, etc., not everyone uses these. Don’t rely too heavily on the Internet. You need to be able to drive your target market TO your website. Although this will be covered more during Week SIX, you want to provide an initial DRAFT of how you plan to ensure a positive and powerful “IMC message” is communicated via an appropriate promotional mix. Components of that promotional mix MAY include:    Advertising Public Relations Direct Marketing • • • Sales Promotion Personal Selling Social Media Don't forget your Internet web site -- what will be its purpose and your web strategy? Your Promotion section should demonstrate an executable plan for what media you will use, when you will use them, the kind of ad you will utilize, e.g., 30 second ads on radio, 6” by four column inch ads every other week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, etc. TIP: Remember the IMC Plan is an executable plan. Don’t simply tell me what media you will use; tell me which specific identified media you will use by identifying them [e.g., Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WGCL-TV, WSB-FM (98.5), Atlanta Magazine, etc.], when you advertise with them, size of the ad/length of the ad, the length of time the ad will appear/run, and the cost to use them. Speaking of which… You will need to create an Integrated Marketing Communications Budget (see the section below) that reflects on what you forecast TO SPEND in your first year of business. Please do some digging and research. Your promotion budget should be realistic and reflect your in-depth RESEARCH. As an example, don't project that you will spend $25K on television advertising during the first year to appear on the "CSI" TV show every week. One 30-second spot on that show will likely cost you $250,000. Passing out fliers is NOT a graduate IMC approach to gain awareness - you're not running a yard sale. For your advertising, you will need to contact the media and/or leverage their website to understand the actual cost for which you will need to budget. Do NOT use general websites that talk to “the cost of advertising on TV,” as an example. Go to the media and speak with their account executives. Know what your IMC budget will actually be! Magazine ads in large publication can easily run several tens of thousands of dollars, e.g., Parents magazine, is $189,000 to run one full-page, 4-color ad in their March 2017 edition. Remember that to get your message across to your target market you want to ensure FREQUENCY of exposure. Unless advertising is repetitive, your message won't get through. Budget for this. Advertising once or twice will not create the recall that you wish. According to some sources, an ad needs to be seen/heard a minimum of four (4) times before it is remembered. Advertising four times does not mean the target market is always listening to that radio station, as an example, each time. Thus, frequency is the name of the game! Your Promotion section of your IMC Plan is well written if you were to hand it to me and say, "Go execute this and make this happen!" I should be able to look at it and understand WHERE we will be promoting, WHAT vehicles we will use, HOW MUCH we can spend, and WHEN (and how frequently) we will advertise there. Advertising on radio? What station(s)? When? How frequently (e.g., three times each morning during morning drive time)? Cost? Demonstrate a graduate-level application of that which you have learned and apply it to your communications plan for your product or service. Your promotional plan should look only at your FIRST YEAR of operation. Newspapers? What will that cost? Magazines? How frequently will your publish? Four-color ad or Black & White? Direct Mail? Facebook? Et cetera… Your Promotion section should include a description that clearly outlines HOW you plan to use each media and the cost, as well as your objective in using that media. Contact your local media and ask to speak with an account executive to learn how much you would actually pay to advertise on that media. Do not throw in a dollar amount and hope it is sufficient. I want to see the results of your research. Be sure to reference this research in your bibliography (using APA format). Communication Schedule How to take all of your promotional information and put it into one simple format? This is how your Integrated Marketing Communications approach and your BUDGET section should appear, with a grand total at the bottom. Please use THIS format to share the results of your findings. Remember to factor in any costs for the use of an ad agency or for web design. 1) Weekly 1/4-page ads in the Atlanta Daily World, @$2,900 for each edition. Ads to run each Sunday for two months, beginning March 12, 2017, followed by publication during alternate weeks through Week 52. Total Cost $89,900 2) Weekly full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to appear on the first and third Sunday of each month, beginning on April 9, 2017, and to run for four months, @$8,423 for each edition. Total Cost $67,384 3) 30-second radio spots on WGCL-FM radio, with two ads during morning drive time and one during evening drive time; ads to run five days each week for first month and alternate every other week for five months beginning March 13, 2017; ads to run once each morning every other day during months Six through Twelve. Total Cost: $126,300 4) 20-second ads once each Thursday evening during prime time to air on local Atlanta television station WSB (Channel 2), from March 2 to April 27. Total Cost: $35,728 5) Participation in COMDEX Atlanta Virtual trade show, 6’ x 10’ booth. November 1517, 2017. Budget: $11,000. 6) Direct Marketing mailer via USPS. 130,000 mailers to targeted list. Mailing list obtained from R.L. Polk that reaches women, 25-45 years of age, married, with children, in Georgia, including City of Atlanta, and five surrounding counties. Total Cost: $346,400. Three programs to commence March 5, May 8, and June 10, 2017. 7) Implement a social media contest on Facebook and Twitter with again the direct key message of “(MESSAGE).” This contest hopes to reach an audience of 25,000 people, in the age bracket 16-30, within the Atlanta target market. It will include photographs or status updates that include a hash tag with any of the company products. The contest will conclude on July 1, 2017, and will result in a grand prizewinner and three finalist winners. Winners will receive a life-time supply of (product), and specific dollar amounts of $1,000, $500, and $200 for the finalist winners. Cost: cash prizes, staff, and Facebook: $22,000 8) Etc., Etc. Total 2017 IMC Promotional Budget: $ 782,422 FINAL COMMENTS Remember that your IMC Plan should be your original work. Submissions that are essentially a cobbling together of information from a host of websites and submitted as “your” IMC Plan will not receive a passing grade. TIP: This is not negotiable. No more than 10% of your content should be “cut and paste” content from external sites. You are being evaluated on demonstrating YOUR ability to create an IMC Plan from beginning to end… and not on your ability to cobble together a bunch of ‘stuff’ from various websites. I ABSOLUTELY will not accept IMC Plans that are comprised of a multitude of ‘cut and paste’ sections. Each class member is measured on their ability to write “from scratch” their own IMC Plan… and at a graduate level. Mediocrity is not rewarded in this class; for the instructor to do so is unfair to those graduate adult learners who DO demonstrate graduate-level work. Please re-visit those last FOUR paragraphs. The instructor recommends that you visit your local public library and seek the wisdom and assistance of their Reference Librarian. Such an individual can be very helpful and can locate information that is NOT available via the Internet. They have been known to pull rabbits from hats and to help graduate adult learners gain wonderful information not normally found via Google searches! The above is provided you by your instructor (not Keller) to complement and to expand upon the Keller documentation provided you in DOC SHARING. If at any time you have a question, don’t be a stranger – call me, email me, SKYPE me, stop by my house, etc. No excuses are accepted for “not knowing” or “not understanding” when you have a clear invitation to call me for help at any time. Best wishes for a successful IMC Plan creation! I am available to you any time you have a question or are running into one of those proverbial brick walls. Yes, the IMC Plan is challenging – but hundreds before you have successfully created great, executable IMC Plans. I look forward to your joining this growing legion of graduates!  bob Robert C. Schaumann, Visiting Professor, Keller School of Management of DeVry University
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